Brighter Days
by Lily Monte
Summary: A seemingly random decision ends up becoming a coincidental twist of fate that will yet again change Chihiro's life forever. Fate must have led her back to the spirit world and Haku, but for what reason? oneshot for now!


Author's Note.

Hey all! While I've been writing stories here and there, I've never published anything because of my lack of confidence in my writing ability and fear of criticism. This here would be my second published story (I deleted my first one after reading it later and realizing I could never continue it and that my writing was absolutely atrocious and lol um)

Bear in mind- this is just my take on what these characters would be like in the future. So, will there be any "ooc-ness" here? I'm sure there will be. I'll definitely be manipulating the characters' personalities & backgrounds, adding on additional information and whatnot that may have not been canon.

Also... don't be alarmed if I decide to change POVs on you. I keep forgetting that I like writing in 1st person better. I'm just experimenting with different writing styles and whatnot~

Read on, and if you aren't too bored or embarrassed by my writing by the end, please do leave a review and let me know what you think! /okayi'llstoptalkingnowsorry

-Monte

* * *

All days are nights to see till I see thee,  
And nights bright days when dreams do show thee to me.  
-_William Shakespeare, "Sonnet XLIII"_

An annoying, light repetitive tapping noise is what eventually woke up 16 year old Chihiro Ogino on early Sunday evening at her grandparent's house. She awoke gradually from her nap, blinking at the harsh sunlight that practically beamed from the window right onto her face. Shielding her eyes, she peered around the room to seek out the source of the tapping noise to no avail. With a peeved sigh, she peeled the quilt away and shuffled her way out to the kitchen.

Chihiro was staying for a week at her grandmother's house while her parents went on vacation. Despite her insistence on the fact that she would be able to manage being alone for a week, they insisted right back that she visit her grandparents. She knew the true reason why they were slightly still tentative when it came to trusting her was because of the party she held when they went out to a friend's house. She would have been able to pull it off, had they not decided to come home earlier. She cringed inwardly at the recollection of her parents' faces when they walked into the house; the situation made for some rather... interesting conversations after.

"Hey Granny," she greeted as she sat down at the breakfast bar. The moment she plopped her head onto the counter top, three young boys that happen to be her cousins came rushing in, toppling over each other and yelling out different things.

"Granny! What's for dinner?"

"_Toru_, we're supposed to have LEFTOVERS today!"

"PANCAKES!"

_So much for attempting to relax._ Chihiro rubbed her temples, feeling a headache come on from all the yelling and from her nap. "Is everything alright, Chihiro?" Her grandmother asked concernedly with a frown, turning to Chihiro while waiting for dinner to cook. "You look awfully tired from just having a nap."

"I was up reading last night, so I didn't really get that much sleep today," she said a bit sheepishly. It was partially true- half the night she had spent over her friends house, and after she sneaked back into the house, she read a little bit more before hitting the sheets.

"And visiting your friends?" Her grandmother added with a raised eyebrow. Chihiro froze for a second while she was leaning up, but saw her grandmother's impish grin and realized it was going to be kept a secret between them.

She smiled mischievously while stretching her arms. "It was Hana's birthday. I couldn't let her down."

"Hmm," was all her grandmother replied as she tended back to her cooking. Chihiro frowned. She hated when her parents or any other adult figures said words like that in highly curious tones. It always made her feel uneasy and vulnerable.

She glanced out the window to her left absentmindedly, gazing at the river that ran alongside the cottage, separating it from their neighbor's house. Technically, the house was on the road after theirs, but since their backyards were practically connected they considered each other neighbors.

When she was younger, she had always gone fishing in this river with her grandfather. It had a slightly quick-moving current, but nonetheless, they always caught fish. She had often gone swimming in it as well with her cousins, but she no longer enjoyed bathing in it. She began losing interests in many activities she had enjoyed when she was younger and they just overall began to lose their appeal.

She kind of missed fishing with her dad and grandfather, but only because she enjoyed spending time with them. After they moved to the new house, she felt as if she lost a connection with both her parents. Although her relationship with her mother had always been somewhat strained, she was much closer to her father. Now...

"Pancakes are ready!" Chihiro snapped back to reality, thanks to the prospect of her grandmother's locally famous and mouthwatering fried chicken rice.

"Oh, grandma! You were supposed to make _chocolate chip_ pancakes!" Toru pouted. Despite his small complaint, he happily dug his fork into the heap of chicken rice that was set before him.

That was another thing she missed. Indulging in the little things, and allowing herself to be content with them.

* * *

After dinner, Chihiro changed into a pair of comfortable blue shorts and an old camp shirt that the signatures of beloved camp friends still clung to. She decided to follow the river to see where it ended, something she had always wanted to do when she was younger, but never had the chance to since she hadn't visited her grandmother in years.

Heading to the east, she followed the river past another house and into a vast, open field. She paused to take a break and dip her legs into the cool water. Suddenly, she received a flashback to when she had dropped her shoe in the Kohaku river. As much as she tried to block the memory, she couldn't. Before she knew it, all her memories from the spirit world came flooding back to her.

Chihiro leaned forward, gazing at her reflection in the water with blurry vision. It was too painful to think about all the friends she had left there. Despite being scared and completely lonely at first, she missed the spirits she met and her experiences terribly by the end. And as stubborn as she is to admit even to herself, she missed Kohaku most of all, _goddammit_.

She reached into her pocket and pulled out the purple elastic Zeniba had given her. It was the only piece of evidence she held for herself that the entire thing hadn't been a dream. She hadn't worn it since, afraid that she was going to break it, and in return somehow break her connection to the spirit world. As foolish as it sounded, she still hoped inwardly that this would somehow help her visit the spirit world just one more time.

With a wipe of her eyes and a nostalgic sigh, she stood up and slid her shoes back on. She continued to walk alongside the river, albeit a bit less energetically now.

As she approached the forest that the river snaked through, she stopped to adjust her ponytail and survey the area. As far as she could see, there was only one house on the other side of the river and open field everywhere else. The house itself seemed to be abandoned- overgrown grass grew all around, and the walls looked in bad need of a paint job.

Just as she was going to stretch the hair tie over her ponytail, it snapped and broke. She mumbled a curse under her breath and reluctantly pulled the purple elastic out of her pocket. A silly thought came to her mind, and she shook her head at herself for even thinking it in the first place. She carefully stretched the tie to pull her hair back, and felt pleased when it held her hair in place without threatening to snap.

It was then that she noticed a trail from where she was standing that she could have sworn had not been there minutes ago. She hesitated, before trekking on into the forest. At first, the trail seemed to be just barely that, with many sticks and tree roots and branches in the way; however, it eventually widened into a normal sized path.

Gazing up to see how tall the trees went, she noticed building tops in the distance behind the trunks. She looked down around her in surprise, and became aware of the buildings that seemed to begin to materialize around her.

"This isn't happening," she said aloud faintly. She barely recognized her own voice.

She had stumbled upon yet another abandoned ghost town.

* * *

Yeah, yeah, it's short. Whatevs. Not happy with how I ended this chapter, but I felt like finally publishing something and seeing what people think.


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